NATIONALISM AND THE NEW PHARISEES, PART II

      So, this morning's headlines were ablaze with the news that the Neocons have set up another new Government Task-Force, which is overseen by the Justice Department, to combat 'anti-Christian bigotry.' As usual, this announcement was met with a chorus of cheers from the Uniparty's Amen Corner in the Church which, also just as typically, didn't bother looking into the details. 

    This task force is going to be headed by the Rev. Paula White, thrice-married leader of a Florida Megachurch and televangelist preaching the Prosperity Gospel. 

    This Megachurch was investigated by a Senate Committee in 2007 as one of the many cultish entities hovering around Bush Jr.'s Administration. Rev. Paula is said to be "Trump's Spiritual Advisor" with a relationship going back to 2002, a fact which speaks volumes about the moral compass of the New Right. Paula's Megachurch is the 7th largest of these institutions in the US, with over 20,000 active members. 

     Attorney-General Pam Bondi, former lobbyist for Jeff Bezos and Ron DeSantis' ex-AG, will have 'oversight' of the Task Force. DeSantis, we might recall, famously scrapped Florida's woke educational ideology and replaced it with his own version of Political Correctness in PragerU. This is about what we can expect from this Task Force: 'combatting anti-Christian bigotry' is going to be defined roughly like the Neocons define 'combatting anti-Semitism;' i.e., those who disagree with official policy will become 'anti-Christian' just like any Jews who oppose Zionism aren't considered real Jews. 

    The Prosperity Gospel is part of the same constellation of neo-Christian cults making up the 'spiritual' wing of the New Right. It's essentially a materialist doctrine where God is something like the Grand CEO of the Universe dispensing promotions and Golden Parachutes to all of those who obey the Megachurch leaders. Like it's confederates in heresy---the Christian Nationalists, the Christian Zionists, the Dominionists, the alt-Christian online cults, etc.--- the Prosperity Gospel basically is a Social Darwinist ideology masquerading as a spiritual movement. It's not surprising that the Neocons would find a natural affinity with such characters. 

    What this means in terms for mainstream Christians ought to be obvious: those Christians who disagree with the Uniparty's policies are going to become 'anti-Christian bigots.  In 2017, the Rev. Paula said as much: "It is God who raises up a king. It is God that sets one down. When you fight against the plan of God, you are fighting against the hand of God." 

   Aside from the fact that there is mutual contradiction between electing Presidents and the Divine Right of Kings, the truly concerning part of all of this is that many high-ranking US Officials think just like this. House Speaker Mike Johnson is one; but so is the head of the OMB, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. 

   In other words, Christians who don't believe that, say, a person's bank account is the measure of his moral worth: that makes you an anti-Christian bigot. A Christian who doesn't think that mass-deportations are Christian: welcome to the anti-Christian Bigot Club. A Christian who doesn't think that Jesus would approve of ethnic cleansing and genocide: you might get a visit from the boys in black suits soon. Of course, favoring anything like social spending, public education, or organized labor automatically sends you the dog-house (or maybe a FEMA camp or otherwise frozen out of society). When that happens, of course, we'll hear nothing but a symphony of "This isn't what we voted for! Nobody knew this could happen!"

   On the contrary: this is exactly what 'Christian Conservatives' voted for. They wanted anybody but the Democrats, and now they've got it. We've seen Neocon patronage of these whacko cults in both Bush Administrations; we saw Megachurches lining up to support Bush 3.0: the appointments and candidates had histories of supporting these abominable doctrines going back years, and nobody cared enough to ask where all of this was going to lead. 

    Where it will lead is straight into the Great Reset, only with a Cross instead of a Rainbow for its ideological emblem. Christians simply afford to look the other way anymore; and a few religious leaders need to start speaking out before they find themselves unable to speak any more.